Summer Masque
by SHSno8evil2
Summary: This fic is well...just read. It takes place in England n the characters r OC...sorta. N e who, it took a while to get back n finish it, but i have. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

Summer Masque  
  
Lord Irvine Kinneas has always loved Selphie Tilmitt. But the disparity in their experience led him to keep his feelings to himself. So for years, he's waited, been biding his time until the lady was mature enough to be his bride. Will a masked ball held in honor of his cousin's engagement be the romantic opportunity Kinneas has been waiting for — or has he already lost Selphie's heart to another lover? 


	2. Chapter 1 page 1

Chapter 1: Page 1  
  
North Hamptonshire, England, 1818  
  
He had waited so long for her.  
  
Lord Irvine Kinneas gazed across his traveling  
  
carriage at Miss Selphie Tilmitt, presently in  
  
animated conversation with her lady's maid. When she  
  
laughed, tendrils of dark hair that peeped from beneath  
  
her bonnet danced.  
  
Had he waited too long? Lord Kinneas feared so.  
  
Ever since he could remember, an eventual match between  
  
the two of them had been an unspoken certainty on the  
  
part of their families. And ever since she had made an  
  
effort to ease the social torture of a party for him six  
  
years ago, his heart had been hers. She'd been so young  
  
then. A mere girl of nineteen, while he had been the same age yet years older still in experience and responsibility.  
  
Knowing she thought of him only as a dear, old friend or  
  
courtesy elder brother, he had scrupulously avoided  
  
revealing the intensity of his feelings, for fear of  
  
frightening her away. She would be his one day and he  
  
had been content to wait, anticipating.  
  
Selphie looked up suddenly and caught him watching her.  
  
Two bewitching dimples blossomed on either side of her  
  
equally bewitching lips. "My dear Kinneas, you look  
  
positively grim! I hope you have not got a toothache,  
  
poor fellow. I would hate to have this lovely visit with  
  
your cousin spoiled for you."  
  
She did not blush when she spoke, which troubled Lord  
  
Kinneas. A young lady should blush if she discovered a  
  
man staring at her with the transparent longing he  
  
feared his face must betray. At least, she should if she  
  
had the slightest romantic interest in the fellow.  
  
"My teeth are quite sound, thank you." He wasn't in his  
  
dotage yet. Though perhaps he might as well be as far as  
  
she was concerned.  
  
He admitted a half-truth to explain his solemn  
  
countenance. "I was only thinking about this sudden  
  
engagement of Leonhart's and wondering what it all  
  
means." 


	3. Chapter 1 page 2

Chapter 1: Page 2  
  
They were on their way to a house party at Helmhurst,  
  
the country estate of Lord Kinneas's cousin, Squall  
  
Leonhart, to celebrate the baron's betrothal. The  
  
culmination of the gathering was to be a splendid  
  
masquerade ball. Kinneas had accepted the invitation  
  
eagerly, hoping the romantic atmosphere might make  
  
Selphie more receptive to the notion of him as a lover  
  
and a husband.  
  
When she had returned to England recently after a year  
  
abroad, Kinneas had fallen in love all over again, for she  
  
had matured into the clever, vivacious, beautiful woman  
  
he'd always known she would. Exultant that his time had  
  
come at last, he'd been crushed to discover she had no  
  
wish to encourage his romantic attentions. Nor ever to  
  
wed him.  
  
"Why, it means Lord Leonhart has met a special lady and  
  
fallen in love with her, I hope." Selphie's gaze strayed  
  
out the carriage window to drink in the lush hedgerows  
  
of England's heartland. The wistful look on her delicate  
  
features made Kinneas ache to hold her. "I am so happy for  
  
him, poor man, after what happened to him during the  
  
war, and how cruel everyone has been since."  
  
She glanced back at Kinneas again, an unexpected glint of  
  
steel in her dreamy blue-green eyes. "No one who called him  
  
Lord Lucifer in my hearing was ever fool enough to do it  
  
a second time!"  
  
Kinneas laughed, in spite of his burdened heart. That was  
  
one of the things he'd always loved about Selphie — her  
  
spirit, her loyalty and her kind heart. Though it was on  
  
account of those latter admirable qualities that he  
  
dared not show her the true depth of his feelings. If  
  
she knew of his dogged devotion, she would do anything  
  
to keep from hurting him. Even if that meant wedding him  
  
against her inclination. He cared for her happiness far  
  
too much to let that happen.  
  
But perhaps the exposure to his cousin's happy betrothal  
  
would make her reconsider, and give him the smile or  
  
word of encouragement he had craved for so long.  
  
Lord Kinneas had the kindest eyes, and the saddest,  
  
too. Selphie had always thought so. Even as a young girl  
  
she had sought to draw him out, to make him laugh and  
  
enjoy himself a little. Though otherwise the very best  
  
of men, he had always been too shy and too solemn.  
  
"I wonder how Lord Leonhart came to meet this Miss  
  
Heartilly?" she mused. "I heard he never goes anywhere,  
  
and then only in the dead of night."  
  
She remembered Squall Leonhart as he had been before  
  
Waterloo. "The Handsomest Beau in Britain" everyone had  
  
called him then. Selphie had heartily agreed, though  
  
she'd always thought Lord Kinneas's face had more  
  
character. She hoped her own face would not betray any  
  
aversion when she met the baron again and saw the black  
  
mask with which he concealed his war wounds. 


	4. Chapter 1 page 3

Chapter 1: Page 3  
  
The carriage turned off the main road just then onto a  
  
long lane that led to a magnificent old house.  
  
Lord Kinneas shrugged. "From what I can gather, the  
  
young lady is a neighbor of theirs. I believe she took a  
  
kind interest in the earl while Squall was off to war. I  
  
would not put it past the old fellow to have had a hand  
  
in matchmaking for the two of them."  
  
"His fiancée is someone Lord Leonhart has known all his  
  
life, you mean?" The information surprised Selphie. "Then  
  
perhaps it is not a love match after all."  
  
No one could fall in love with a person they had known  
  
all their lives. She was certain of that. For some time  
  
now, she had been waiting and expecting to fall in love  
  
— the kind of love she had heard extolled in poem and  
  
play, song and story. She'd hoped that during her year  
  
abroad she might meet someone special to whom she could  
  
surrender her heart. There had been men who'd made that  
  
organ flutter for an hour or two, but it had not taken  
  
them long to fall short of her ideal. Though Kinneas might  
  
think her a frivolous creature, she wanted more in a  
  
husband than good looks and a flattering tongue.  
  
She knew her family planned for her to marry Lord  
  
Kinneas, but that was out of the question. Wealthy,  
  
well bred, handsome and kind, he had been a fixture in  
  
her life for as long as she could recall. How could one  
  
fall in love with a fixture?  
  
"I only hope Leonhart's fiancée is not after his  
  
fortune," Irvine muttered.  
  
He was so devoted to his family, what little he had.  
  
That was one of the things Selphie liked best about him.  
  
Though she feared he might let his strong sense of duty  
  
spoil his own chance to fall in love. He had never shown  
  
the least interest in her as a woman, yet he was vastly  
  
attentive in a brotherly fashion. If she permitted it,  
  
she feared he would drift into marriage with her to  
  
fulfill a family obligation. Not an unpleasant one,  
  
perhaps, but not the kind of romantic rapture she wished  
  
for him…and for herself.  
  
Perhaps if his cousin's engagement were a love match,  
  
Irvine would see that he must not allow himself to settle  
  
for less. If, on the other hand, Lord Leonhart and Miss  
  
Heartilly had contracted an alliance on some other basis,  
  
it might serve as a warning for what Irvine should avoid.  
  
For her part, Selphie could not help hoping true love  
  
might find her at Lord Leonhart's midsummer masque! 


	5. Chapter 2 page 1

Chapter 2: Page 1  
  
A foolish sense of satisfaction and hope budded inside  
  
Lord Irvine Kinneas as he helped Selphie Tilmitt  
  
out of his carriage. Bringing her to Helmhurst to help  
  
celebrate his cousin's engagement made him feel as if  
  
she belonged to him, however briefly.  
  
The Earl of Welland stood near the magnificent pillared  
  
entrance to the house, greeting his guests. The old  
  
fellow looked as frail as ever, but happier than Kinneas  
  
had seen him since his grandson had returned disfigured  
  
after the Battle of Waterloo. Beside the earl stood a  
  
lovely young woman with shining brown hair and a shy smile.  
  
"Kinneas, my dear boy!" The earl glanced from Kinneas to  
  
Selphie with the twinkling eyes of an unrepentant  
  
matchmaker. "I am delighted you've brought such a lovely  
  
companion with you to grace our celebrations. I want  
  
this gloomy old place steeped to the eaves in the  
  
laughter and romance of young folk for a few days. It  
  
will be the perfect tonic for me."  
  
Kinneas dearly hoped he would be able to oblige the old  
  
fellow. He bowed to the earl and to the young lady he  
  
assumed must be his cousin's fiancée. "Thank you for the  
  
invitation, sir. May I present a dear friend of the  
  
family, Miss Selphie Tilmitt?"  
  
"What — not Bram Tilmitt's little girl? Why it seems  
  
just yesterday we were toasting your christening.  
  
Welcome, my dear!" The earl turned to the young woman  
  
beside him. "This is a dear friend of my family, and  
  
soon to be a member of it, Miss Rinoa Heartilly."  
  
The gentlemen bowed over the ladies' hands. Kinneas and  
  
Selphie both congratulated Miss Heartilly on her  
  
engagement to Lord Leonhart and everyone praised the  
  
fine weather.  
  
"Is Squall around, by any chance?" asked Kinneas. "I'd like  
  
to congratulate him on his good fortune and good sense  
  
in securing such a lovely bride."  
  
"You'll see him at dinner," said the earl with no  
  
further explanation. "Until then, why don't you both  
  
settle in and make yourselves at home. I hope you  
  
brought masks and costumes for the ball."  
  
They assured him that, indeed, they had. Kinneas could  
  
scarcely wait for a glimpse of Selphie as Helen of Troy.  
  
He'd have launched a thousand ships for her, if he'd  
  
thought it would do him any good. 


	6. Chapter 2 page 2

Chapter 2: Page 2  
  
"So what do you think of Miss Heartilly?" Selphie  
  
whispered once they were out of earshot. "Is she in love  
  
with your cousin, do you suppose?"  
  
"That is hardly the sort of thing one can tell from a  
  
brief meeting." Or even a long acquaintance. Otherwise  
  
Selphie would have realized ages ago how much he cared  
  
for her. Perhaps she didn't want to see it.  
  
"I suppose not." Selphie did not appear convinced. "She  
  
is very lovely, though. Whatever may have induced her to  
  
accept Lord Leonhart, I do not believe it was his  
  
fortune."  
  
"My mind is at rest on that score as well," Kinneas agreed.  
  
"What shall we do to amuse ourselves until dinner? Would  
  
you care to take a stroll through the gardens? Helmhurst  
  
has very fine ones."  
  
"We've been cooped up in your carriage together all the  
  
way from home." An anxious look tightened Selphie's  
  
smile. Did she think a walk in the gardens might give  
  
him unwanted encouragement? "Why not mingle with some of  
  
the other guests? The earl told me they're set up for  
  
pall-mall and tennis."  
  
"Pall-mall it is." Irvine tried not to let his  
  
disappointment show. After all, any time spent in  
  
Selphie's company was a rare boon, even if he had to  
  
share her attention.  
  
It had been a most enjoyable afternoon, Selphie decided  
  
as she dressed for dinner. She and Irvine had won their  
  
match against Viscount Zell Dintch and his sister. Kinneas  
  
had been vastly comical, larking about with his mallet  
  
and pretending to get the wickets mixed up. It was good  
  
to see the dear fellow relaxing and enjoying himself.  
  
Once or twice, her gaze had met Viscount Dintch's as  
  
they'd chuckled over Lord Kinneas's antics, and she  
  
had felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Zell Dintch was  
  
very handsome and charming. His sister might do quite  
  
well for Kinneas…except that she had a rather tart tongue.  
  
Selphie did not want to see her dear friend saddled with  
  
a scold for a wife.  
  
She was delighted to find herself seated between Irvine  
  
and Dintch at dinner. It was a rather strange  
  
meal, though.  
  
"Why so few candles?" she whispered to Kinneas as the soup  
  
was being served.  
  
"It's Leonhart." Irvine nodded toward the foot of the table  
  
where his cousin sat. "The earl tells me his injured eye  
  
is painfully sensitive to bright light."  
  
"How awful for him." Hard as she tried, Selphie could not  
  
keep her sympathy untainted by a tiny qualm of fear.  
  
Lord Leonhart's black mask did give him a rather  
  
diabolical appearance. "I wonder how poor Miss Heartilly  
  
will manage, wed to a man who must live his life in  
  
darkness?" 


	7. Chapter 2 page 3

Chapter 2: Page 3  
  
She should have kept her voice down. A striking blondhead  
  
sitting on Kinneas's right, leaned toward them and purred  
  
with gleeful malice, "Don't you think that might be one  
  
of the attractions of the match for her? Imagine a  
  
wealthy husband one hardly ever needs to keep company  
  
with!"  
  
Irvine made some sort of vague comment about doubting Lord  
  
Leonhart's fiancée would agree, while Selphie struggled  
  
to rein in her indignation. If she hadn't thought it  
  
would make a dreadful scene, she'd have been tempted to  
  
dump the contents of her soup bowl over the little minx!  
  
Selphie knew the creature, if only by reputation. Lady  
  
Quistis Trepe had jilted two men already, and only her  
  
father's wealth and title had kept her from being  
  
shunned by the ton. Fearing Lady Quistis might have designs  
  
on Kinneas, Selphie took care to keep him so engaged in  
  
conversation with her that he scarcely had a moment to  
  
glance at his right-hand neighbor.  
  
If that meant she had no time to chat with Zell Dintch,   
  
it couldn't be helped. A lady must be willing  
  
to make some sacrifices for the man she…liked a great  
  
deal. Selphie felt quite rewarded when, near the end of  
  
the meal, the Zell stole an opportunity to whisper  
  
an intriguing invitation.  
  
By the end of dinner, Kinneas felt as if he had drunk too  
  
much of the earl's fine wine. Selphie's sudden exclusive  
  
interest set him giddy with hope. Why, she'd hardly even  
  
glanced at that coxcomb Dintch, who'd been taking far  
  
too much interest in her to suit Irvine.  
  
Perhaps his foolishness during their game that afternoon  
  
had made her see he wasn't as stuffy and backward as she  
  
might have thought. Or perhaps there was a little magic  
  
in the air. Irvine didn't care what was behind it, as long  
  
as it worked.  
  
When the gentlemen retired to the earl's library, Kinneas  
  
excused himself as soon as he could. He tipped the  
  
earl's ancient valet a large sum for information about  
  
Miss Tilmitt's whereabouts, then raced to the gardens  
  
in search of her.  
  
Just as he was rounding one of the hedges, he heard her  
  
cry, "So you did come, after all!"  
  
Irvine opened his mouth to reply. Before he could speak,  
  
another man's voice answered the very words he'd meant  
  
to say. "My apologies, dear lady. I came as soon as I  
  
could."  
  
"You're here now," said Selphie. "That's what matters."  
  
As Kinneas watched from behind the hedge, his hope  
  
shattered and ground into the dust, the woman he loved  
  
took Dintch's arm and they began a slow stroll around  
  
the garden. 


	8. Chapter 3 page 1

Chapter 3: Page 1  
  
He should not listen, Lord Kinneas told himself as he  
  
stood behind a laurel hedge while his beloved Selphie  
  
flirted with Viscount Zell Dintch on the other side. Such  
  
conduct was beneath a gentleman. Nor did he want to hear  
  
what they might say. His heart pained him quite enough  
  
already.  
  
But when he tried to move, his legs would not cooperate.  
  
"What kept you?" Selphie asked Dintch in a tone of  
  
sweet mock-petulance. "I was beginning to think you  
  
might not come after all."  
  
"If you believe I'd prefer standing around a stuffy  
  
library drinking port to strolling with you under the  
  
stars, you are not nearly as clever a woman as I took  
  
you for, Miss Tilmitt."  
  
She gave a silvery little laugh. The kind Irvine had  
  
congratulated himself on prompting that afternoon. Was  
  
that rascal, Zell, kissing her hand or taking some  
  
other minor liberty? Where Selphie was concerned, there  
  
were no minor liberties.  
  
"You flatter me, sir," she said. "I am not nearly as  
  
accomplished as your sister."  
  
Now Zell laughed. "There's a difference between  
  
cleverness and being a know-it-all little bluestocking.  
  
It was most unkind of you not to rescue me from one of  
  
Jane's tiresome lectures during dinner. You were paying  
  
me so little heed, I was afraid I'd done something to  
  
offend you."  
  
"Never!" insisted Selphie. "I had to keep Lord Kinneas  
  
talking so Lady Quistis wouldn't get her claws into him. I  
  
want the dear fellow to find a nice wife, not take up  
  
with some dreadful little minx who'll break his heart."  
  
Irvine clenched his teeth to keep from crying out. There  
  
was only one wife he wanted. A hundred Lady Quistis's could  
  
not have tempted him. Nor hurt him more cruelly, with so  
  
little intention.  
  
Gradually, Selphie and the Viscount sauntered almost out  
  
of earshot. Irvine could hear only the muted cadence of  
  
their conversation, frequently punctuated by Selphie's  
  
laughter. He tried to steal away so he would not be  
  
discovered and humiliated. His legs continued to defy  
  
his will. He was still rooted to the same spot when  
  
Selphie and Zell came closer again.  
  
"In that case, may I have the honor of a dance at the  
  
ball?" the Viscount asked. 


	9. Chapter 3 page 2

Chapter 3: Page 2  
  
"More than one if you wish," replied Selphie. "So you  
  
have no trouble finding me, I shall be costumed as Helen  
  
of Troy."  
  
"How very apt." The caressing tone of Dintch's voice  
  
made Irvine yearn to vault over the hedge and throttle  
  
him. "Not that you need to have told me. I would have  
  
picked you out of the throng no matter what costume or  
  
mask you wore."  
  
"I dare not make such a boast, sir," said Selphie. "So  
  
you had better tell me what you will be wearing.  
  
Otherwise, I might accept an invitation from the wrong  
  
gentleman."  
  
"You must accept no one but Robin Hood, fair Helen. But  
  
be warned, he is a scoundrel who may try to steal a  
  
kiss."  
  
"Be warned, Lord Dintch." Selphie's voice had a  
  
teasing, almost seductive note that Kinneas would have  
  
given anything to hear addressed to him. "He may not  
  
need to steal it."  
  
Once again, they wandered away. Farther this time, for  
  
Irvine could no longer hear them at all. His rebellious  
  
legs finally decided to operate again. He managed to  
  
stagger into the house and up to his room, where he  
  
hurled himself facedown on the bed.  
  
How he wished he were a child again so he could summon  
  
the tears that might have eased his parched heart.  
  
Selphie was too keyed-up to sleep. After returning from  
  
her starlight stroll in the garden with Viscount  
  
Dintch, she had gone straight to bed. After what  
  
seemed like hours of tossing and turning, she had  
  
concluded it was useless to keep lying there.  
  
This strange unease that kept her awake — could it be  
  
love? She asked herself that question as she rose, lit a  
  
candle then donned her dressing gown. If it was, she  
  
wondered what all the fuss in books and ballads was  
  
about.  
  
Perhaps she hadn't given it a proper chance to flourish,  
  
though. All the while she'd been walking with the  
  
Viscount, part of her mind had been wondering if Kinneas  
  
was with the other gentlemen in the library or whether  
  
he might be strolling elsewhere on the grounds with a  
  
young lady on his arm. She would have heartily approved,  
  
provided it was not Lady Trepe…or Jane Dintch…or that  
  
toplofty Miss Whiteside…or…  
  
Might there be a scullery maid still awake in the  
  
kitchen who could warm her a cup of milk? Selphie hated  
  
to think of disturbing anyone. Perhaps she could creep  
  
down to the earl's library and borrow a book to read.  
  
Something nice and tiresome that would put her to sleep  
  
after a few pages.  
  
Easing the guest room door open, she padded down the  
  
corridor, her bare feet making scarcely a sound on the  
  
thick carpet. As she rounded the corner that led to the  
  
west wing of the house, she collided with someone  
  
hurrying in the opposite direction. 


	10. Chapter 3 page 3

Chapter 3: Page 3  
  
Large, powerful hands closed around her arms to keep her  
  
from falling. Fumbling her candle, she barely managed to  
  
stifle a scream.  
  
"Irvine?" she asked in a loud whisper, holding the candle  
  
higher. "Is that you? What are you doing up at this  
  
hour?"  
  
The moment the words left her lips, she wished she could  
  
recall them. Was it not obvious what the man must be  
  
doing — prowling around at a country-house party in the  
  
middle of the night?  
  
He looked it, too. His warm brown hair was disheveled,  
  
his neck linen was gone and his loose white shirt hung  
  
open, exposing a deep wedge of bare chest. Had Lord  
  
Kinneas been dallying with one of the ladies? The  
  
notion took Selphie's breath away.  
  
"I might ask you the same question." Kinneas's voice had a  
  
harsh huskiness she'd never heard before. If she hadn't  
  
known him so long and so well, it might have alarmed  
  
her. "Where are you going at this hour?"  
  
"To get a book from the library, if you must know."  
  
Considering what he might be up to, he had no business  
  
quizzing her in that gruff tone. "I'm having a devil of  
  
a time getting to sleep." Where did he think she was  
  
bound?  
  
Her indignation evaporated when she looked into his  
  
eyes. The green in them seemed to blaze with verdant  
  
fury, while the brown ached with anguish too deep for  
  
words.  
  
"Is something wrong?" She tried to reach out to him,  
  
only to realize he was still holding tight to her arms.  
  
The candle flame between them danced wildly. If they  
  
weren't careful, one of them might get badly burned.  
  
"You can let go of me now," she whispered, though her  
  
knees felt weak all of a sudden. Perhaps it was the  
  
fright from bumping into him in the dark.  
  
He glanced down with a puzzled look, as if his hands  
  
were acting on their own, contrary to his will.  
  
"F-forgive me. I didn't mean to —"  
  
What could have happened to distress him so? "Can I  
  
help, Kinneas? Whatever is the matter, I hope you know you  
  
can always confide in me."  
  
He threw his head back, shaking with silent, frenzied  
  
laughter. The next thing Selphie knew, he pushed past her  
  
and fled down the corridor. But not before the light of  
  
her candle glinted off a hint of mist in his haunted  
  
eyes. 


	11. Chapter 4 page 1

Chapter 4 page 1  
  
What had he done? Lord Kinneas blundered down the  
  
darkened corridor with Selphie's parting words echoing in  
  
his ears. "Whatever is the matter, I hope you know you  
  
can always confide in me."  
  
Heaven help him, she was the last person in whom he  
  
could ever confide. For she was both his problem and the  
  
impossible solution to it.  
  
How could he stay for the ball to celebrate his cousin's  
  
engagement when it was certain to mean watching Viscount  
  
Dintch make a conquest of the woman Irvine loved? He'd  
  
sooner be hanged.  
  
An air of brooding silence hung over the sleeping house.  
  
Irvine had to get outside where he could breathe and where  
  
the night air might cool his fever of self-reproach.  
  
What must Selphie think of him after the way he'd acted?  
  
Had he angered her? Frightened her? Repelled her with  
  
his raw emotions the way she might have cowered from the  
  
sight of a gaping, gushing wound? Whatever her reaction,  
  
he had probably driven her straight into his rival's  
  
arms.  
  
He was wandering on the south lawn, drowning in regrets,  
  
when a familiar masculine voice reached out of the  
  
darkness. "Who's there?"  
  
"Squall?" Irvine stopped. "Is that you?"  
  
"Oh, Irvine." His cousin sounded relieved. "I've hardly  
  
had a chance for a word with you. It was good of you to  
  
come. I hope you and Miss Tilmitt are enjoying  
  
yourselves."  
  
Irvine tried to mouth a polite falsehood, but he could  
  
not.  
  
"Ah," said Squall in a knowing tone. "Anything I can  
  
do?"  
  
If he didn't tell someone, he might explode, as he had  
  
very nearly done with Selphie. "Care to give a fellow a  
  
little advice in matters of the heart?"  
  
Squall gave a soft, raspy chuckle. Irvine could imagine  
  
his cousin's dark brow raised. "I am hardly an expert on  
  
the subject."  
  
"You must know something, though, securing such a lovely  
  
fiancée." In spite of his marred looks and his suspect  
  
reputation.  
  
"What's the trouble then?" asked Lionheart. "I won't  
  
pretend I have any wisdom to offer. Now and then it just  
  
does a man good to get it all out. Like a thorough  
  
purging."  
  
Something about the confessional atmosphere of the  
  
night's warm darkness coaxed Kinneas to speak. "It's Miss  
  
Tilmitt, as I expect you've guessed." 


	12. Chapter 4 page 2

Chapter 4: Page 2  
  
"She appeared very attentive to you at dinner."  
  
"Only to keep me from talking to the Talbot chit."  
  
"Still, isn't that encouraging?"  
  
Irvine shook his head, then remembered Squall couldn't see  
  
him. "You don't understand."  
  
He only meant to offer a few words of explanation, but  
  
everything came spewing out. Irvine could no more have  
  
stopped it than he could have paused in the middle of  
  
being violently ill. His cousin had been right about one  
  
thing, though. Once it was no longer all inside, eating  
  
away at him, he felt a good deal better.  
  
After a moment's thoughtful silence, Squall asked, "Have  
  
you told any of this to Miss Tilmitt?"  
  
"Have you not heeded a word I've said?" Kinneas cried. "Of  
  
course I haven't told her. Have you told Miss Heartily  
  
how you feel about her?"  
  
"We aren't talking about me, though I understand what  
  
you mean. I don't pretend it will be easy. Sometimes the  
  
more a man cares for a woman, the harder it is for him  
  
to woo her."  
  
"I thought you had no wisdom to impart, Squall."  
  
"Promise me something?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"If an opportunity arises for you to woo Miss  
  
Tilmitt, you'll seize it."  
  
Precious little fear of that! "I will. Thank you,  
  
Squall. I hope you and Miss Heartily will be very happy  
  
together."  
  
Lionheart did not answer. But on the mild night air, Irvine  
  
thought he heard a faint sigh. Was there more to his  
  
cousin's betrothal than met the eye? Irvine wondered. Or  
  
perhaps…less?  
  
Selphie sighed. Then she yawned. She would need a good  
  
nap this afternoon or she'd never be able to stay awake  
  
for the ball. Poor Kinneas looked like he could use a rest,  
  
too. She told him as much at breakfast.  
  
He treated her to a withering look over the brim of his  
  
coffee cup. "If you mean I look a wreck, go ahead and  
  
say it."  
  
Selphie swept a glance around at the few other guests who  
  
had gathered in Helmhurst's smaller dining room. "I  
  
didn't mean any such thing and you know it."  
  
She did not want to quarrel with him, but fatigue and  
  
bewilderment had frayed her temper. Last night she had  
  
glimpsed a side of Irvine Kinneas she'd never  
  
guessed. It had stirred something in her that she was  
  
reluctant to examine too closely. Something that her  
  
pleasant flirtation with Viscount Dintch had not  
  
roused in the least.  
  
"Is everything all right?" She kept her voice low to  
  
avoid drawing too much attention. "I could see you  
  
weren't yourself last night."  
  
"I am always myself, Selphie." His tone stung her.  
  
"Though perhaps not always the man you like to think I  
  
am." 


	13. Chapter 4 page 3

Chapter 4: Page 3  
  
"Please." She pressed her fingers to her temple. "It's  
  
too early in the morning for talking in riddles."  
  
Irvine rose abruptly. "Then perhaps you should go find  
  
Dintch. His manner of talk seems to suit you better  
  
than mine. And you needn't feel you have to hover around  
  
to protect me from some predatory vixen. I'm perfectly  
  
able to take care of myself."  
  
He stalked off, leaving the other guests staring and  
  
Selphie as shocked as if he'd hurled the tea urn at her.  
  
What had come over Irvine? Whatever did he mean about not  
  
being the man she thought he was? As her weary mind  
  
absorbed his words about Viscount Dintch and  
  
predatory vixens, she grew more and more distressed.  
  
Irvine must have overheard her talking with the viscount  
  
last evening.  
  
Was it possible Lord Kinneas had deeper feelings for  
  
her than she'd ever realized?  
  
And if she had been mistaken about that, was it possible  
  
she'd been mistaken in her own feelings as well?  
  
"This isn't the mask and costume I brought!" Irvine stared  
  
at the garments laid out on his bed.  
  
He had planned to go as King Arthur. This looked like…  
  
Irvine's valet shook his head, as if to say it was none of  
  
his doing. "The earl's man brought it around, sir. Said  
  
it was compliments of Lord Lionheart."  
  
Suddenly it all made sense. "I suppose he took my gear  
  
away with him?"  
  
"Should I not have given it to him, sir? He said it was  
  
orders from the baron. I thought you must know."  
  
"Never mind, Charters. I'll make do." Under his breath  
  
Irvine muttered, "Damn you, Squall!"  
  
Seize his chance to woo Selphie, indeed. There lay his  
  
chance, right down to the quiver full of arrows, which  
  
he might use like Cupid, to pierce Miss Tilmitt's  
  
indifferent heart. Did he dare try?  
  
Apart from encasing his troublesome emotions in a stout  
  
shell of reason and responsibility, he had little  
  
experience with deception and even less taste for it.  
  
Was any woman worth stooping to such depths for?  
  
He had firmly decided not — made up his mind he wouldn't  
  
attend the ball. Who would miss him, after all? Then,  
  
from out in the corridor, he heard Selphie's laughter  
  
chime. The sound left him dizzy and breathless.  
  
Did he not owe it to himself, and perhaps to her, to  
  
try? If she discovered his deception, she might hate  
  
him, but Irvine preferred that to the prospect of having  
  
her wed him out of pity.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for, Charters? I have a  
  
masquerade to attend."  
  
And a fair damsel to win. 


	14. Chapter 5 page 1

Chapter 5: Page 1  
  
If ever there had been a night meant for lovers, this  
  
one was!  
  
Dressed as Helen of Troy in a flowing Greek chiton,  
  
Selphie Tilmitt watched with a smile on her lips and a  
  
gentle mist in her eyes when Lord Lionheart and his  
  
fiancée made their entrance at the masquerade ball  
  
celebrating their engagement.  
  
When Selphie and Lord Kinneas had arrived the previous  
  
day, she'd wondered if this match between the scarred  
  
war veteran and his beautiful neighbor could possibly be  
  
based on love. Watching the way Miss Heartily clung to  
  
Lord Lionheart's arm, and his visible pride in her, all  
  
Selphie's doubts had been banished.  
  
Apparently it was possible for two people who had known  
  
each other a long time to fall in love. Until yesterday,  
  
Selphie had believed it quite out of the question. Now  
  
she gazed around the darkening south lawn, where the  
  
ball was being held, and savored the atmosphere of  
  
romantic possibility.  
  
Music wafted on the warm evening air from a small but  
  
skillful orchestra. Guests in colorful costumes made  
  
intricate shifting patterns on the tiled terrace that  
  
served as a dance floor. Tiny tin lanterns cast  
  
twinkling light from the branches of the trees that  
  
surrounded the lawn, mirroring the stars that were  
  
beginning to appear in the darkening sky above.  
  
A masculine voice with a mellow, musical cadence wrapped  
  
around her from behind, shimmering with admiration.  
  
"Helen, 'fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty  
  
of a thousand stars!'"  
  
A delicious blush suffused her cheeks and she spun about  
  
to face…Robin Hood? For an instant, she had thought the  
  
voice belonged to someone other than Viscount Dintch.  
  
But, of course, it couldn't.  
  
Fortunately her mask helped obscure any flicker of  
  
disappointment that might have crossed her face. What  
  
was there to be disappointed about, after all? She had  
  
agreed to meet the viscount here tonight and spend the  
  
evening with him.  
  
"Why, Robin Hood, you are curiously eloquent for an  
  
outlaw." Hard as she tried to recapture the bubbly  
  
banter of the previous evening, it eluded her. "I hope  
  
you do not mean to steal from me." She twirled around,  
  
making the soft folds of bleached muslin billow around  
  
her. "As you can see, I have little worth taking."  
  
"Quite the contrary, my dear." He held out his arm to  
  
her. "You have riches beyond price. To gaze on your  
  
beauty, to hear your laughter, to bask in your smile —  
  
all are treasures of the highest value." His voice rang  
  
with a sweet note of sincerity that Selphie found  
  
difficult to resist. 


	15. Chapter 5 page 2

Chapter 5: Page 2  
  
She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. "But  
  
you need not filch any of those, Sir Robin. They are  
  
yours to have when you will."  
  
"Perhaps, but there are other prizes of even rarer  
  
value." He nodded toward the terrace and began to walk  
  
in that direction. "A dance, for instance?"  
  
"You would steal a dance?"  
  
He glanced toward her with a smile of such tender  
  
reverence that it set her heart aflutter. "Ah, there's  
  
the rub. Like so many of life's most precious riches, it  
  
would lose all its worth unless given freely."  
  
There was something different in his manner that touched  
  
her. Could she be feeling the stirrings of true love, at  
  
last?  
  
She clutched his arm a little tighter. "If you set such  
  
great store by it, then I would be honored to grant what  
  
you ask."  
  
They took their places among the other dancers, waiting  
  
for the orchestra to strike up the next tune. "Take  
  
care, my dear. There are treasures you possess that you  
  
must not surrender simply because someone else desires  
  
them."  
  
The air filled with music, and a spritely country dance  
  
swept them up before Selphie could ask what he meant. But  
  
each time his hand closed over hers, each time their  
  
bodies brushed in the most innocent contact, each time  
  
she glanced up to find his gaze caressing her, a quiver  
  
of delicious elation beyond anything poets had tried to  
  
capture with words ran through her.  
  
After several dances, Selphie and her partner revived  
  
themselves with champagne and assorted delicacies from  
  
the buffet. Then they danced again. By turns  
  
flirtatious, gallant and tender, Robin Hood seemed  
  
intent upon stealing her heart.  
  
Only when she recalled the haunted look in Lord  
  
Kinneas's eyes did Selphie feel a pang of remorse. But  
  
wait? Did she glimpse something sweetly familiar, yet  
  
deliciously novel, in the masked eyes of her dancing  
  
partner?  
  
Could it be there was more to Robin Hood — and Lord  
  
Kinneas — than met the eye?  
  
Had someone sprinkled stardust over him and Selphie and  
  
this whole enchanted night? For the first time since his  
  
earliest childhood, Lord Kinneas felt ready to believe  
  
in magic.  
  
His mask and costume gave him a safe bastion from behind  
  
which to mount his romantic conquest. A counterfeit  
  
persona liberated him to speak the words he had hoarded  
  
in his heart for so long. Selphie's ardent responses  
  
emboldened him to risk everything on this desperate  
  
gamble to win her.  
  
The way she held his arm, the way she smiled, the subtle  
  
caress in her voice when she spoke to him, all convinced  
  
Irvine she could love him. All she'd needed was a chance  
  
to see him with fresh eyes.  
  
"Another dance?" he nodded toward the terrace. 


	16. Chapter 5 page 3

Chapter 5: Page 3  
  
Selphie considered for a moment then shook her head. "I  
  
have enjoyed dancing with you very much and I hope we  
  
may share many more in the future. But I have grown a  
  
trifle weary for tonight."  
  
She wasn't going to leave already? Irvine wanted this  
  
night with her to last at least until dawn. "More  
  
champagne, then?"  
  
"I mustn't. I have had almost too much as it is."  
  
She did want to leave. Irvine's heart sank, though he  
  
chided himself for being greedy of her company. This  
  
night had given him more than he'd dared hope for when  
  
he'd accepted Lord Dintch's invitation.  
  
Still he could not resist trying for more. "Almost too  
  
much may be just enough."  
  
"In that case, I have had just enough and should not  
  
indulge any further."  
  
"As you wish, then." He tried to stifle a sigh but did  
  
not fully succeed. "Good night. Our time together has  
  
meant more to me than you will ever know."  
  
He stooped to kiss her hand.  
  
While his lips pressed to her fingers, unable to part  
  
from them, she slowly raised her hand. "Good night? I  
  
have no wish to end our pleasant interlude so soon,  
  
sir."  
  
"You haven't?"  
  
"Indeed, not." She caught her lower lip between her  
  
teeth for a moment. "I was hoping we might take a little  
  
stroll together under the stars. If you are willing?"  
  
If? A whole bottle of champagne could not have set him  
  
so delightfully befuddled as her unexpected invitation.  
  
"I would be honored."  
  
Irvine lost all track of time as they walked arm in arm in  
  
the starlight, talking about everything and nothing. He  
  
felt as if he knew Selphie better after this one evening  
  
than after all the years of their acquaintance. She was  
  
everything he had hoped and more. Every second in her  
  
company, he fell a little further under her spell.  
  
At last they found themselves wrapped in the magical  
  
perfume of a slumbering rose garden. An expectant hush  
  
fell over them and Lord Kinneas knew the moment was  
  
right. Taking Selphie in his arms, he kissed her in the  
  
way he'd waited so long to do. His kiss claimed her as  
  
his own, even as it offered himself to be her willing  
  
subject for the rest of his life.  
  
Yet even in this sweet fulfillment of his dream, a tiny  
  
doubt bedeviled him. Would Selphie be responding with  
  
such innocent passion to his kiss if she knew his true  
  
identity? 


	17. Chapter 6 page 1

Chapter Six: Page One  
  
Selphie Tilmitt was not some green girl. She had been kissed before, on several occasions. How could a lady hope to discover true love if she kept every gentleman at arm's length? Besides, she had a lively curiosity about the passionate side of relationships between men and women. Some of the kisses she'd received had not been very pleasant. Others had been quite pleasant indeed. The kiss she experienced now, in a starlit rose garden on an enchanted midsummer night, was so different from all the others it might have been another act altogether. Selphie felt instinctively that this was her first kiss of true love, and she vowed it would not be her last! The gentleman of her dreams held her in an embrace as tender and yearning as it was strong and protective. At first, his lips brushed against hers with the gentle delicacy of a butterfly's wing or the first warm breeze of spring. More than all the words in the world, his kiss assured her she was a rare and wondrous lady. Like the chivalrous knights of old, he would give her his whole heart in homage, asking nothing in return but permission to cherish her. Selphie was not some damsel in a tower, however, content to be admired from afar. She repented if she had ever let him think so. Pressing her lips to his with greater urgency, at the same time she let them melt against his with a subtle quiver that begged for more. He did not hesitate to oblige her, but swept her up in a masterful embrace, beguiling her to part her lips so he could push their kiss to breathtaking depths. Selphie yielded to him with a sigh of exultant surrender. Their kiss held all the comfort and contentment of homecoming while promising a lifetime of new discoveries and thrilling adventures to delight her. She had been right to wait for this — to wait for him. If only she had not been wrong about so much else! "Please don't stop!" she gasped when he drew back a little. She wanted nothing to wake either of them from this summer night's dream into which they'd strayed. "Wed me, then!" He rained kisses on her ear and neck as he spoke. "And I will never stop." The featherlight graze of his lips against her skin tickled in the most delightful way. How might it feel on other parts of her body? "Wed?" A froth of laughter bubbled out of her. "Is this not rather sudden?" "Not half soon enough." He continued to ply kisses down her neck and over her bare shoulder. "I have waited for you too long." 


	18. Chapter 6 page 2

Chapter Six: Page Two  
  
The rasp of unrequited desire in his voice roused Selphie, even while she reproached herself. Cradling his face in her hands, she crooned her reply. "I have waited all my life for you." "Let's not tarry a moment longer, then." His hand ran through the cascade of curls that tumbled from her headdress. "What?" she gasped. "Run away to Gretna at this hour?" Not that she would hesitate if it were the only means of making him hers. The passionate haste of an elopement appealed to her romantic spirit. But there was a furtive and selfish side to it as well. She wanted their family and friends to share in their joy. She wanted the whole world to see her pride in becoming his wife.   
The warm weight of Selphie in his arms made Lord Kinneas quite delirious. He shook his head in answer to her question about eloping. "Even that would not be soon enough for me." "Then how…?" She subsided in a gurgle of delight as he returned to kissing her shoulders. "A ceremony is only…the witnessing." He kept his lips in contact with her rose-petal skin, so that every word became a kiss. "What truly makes a man and woman husband and wife is the vows they make to one another. Will you make those vows with me, here? Every star in the heavens can bear witness." "Wed in a rose garden at midnight?" She lingered over the words. "How vastly romantic!" She was a creature of romance. No wonder she had given him no encouragement over the years. He had given her none — not a look or a word or a touch to convey the slightest hint of his true feelings for her. Nor had he been truthful with himself about the reason for his reticence. At first he'd blamed his hesitation on her youth, blinding himself to her blossoming womanhood. Then he'd pretended to protect her from her own tender heart, when in truth it was his heart that needed protection. He had been prepared to wait and hope and pine for Selphie — expecting her to give him some encouragement, rather than risk revealing his love in case she might tell him she could never return it. If his cousin Squall had not pushed him into it, would Irvine be here with her now, a word away from gaining his heart's desire? "Well?" he prompted her. "Will you?" "How could I refuse?" "Very easily, I'm afraid. But I hope you won't." More than he had hoped for anything in his life. "Never fear." She traced his lips with the tip of her forefinger. Then she spoke the three most beautiful words Irvine had ever heard. "I am yours." 


	19. Chapter 6 page 3

Chapter Six: Page Three  
  
He took her hands in his. "I promise, by all the stars in the heavens and by all the love in my heart, I will honor and cherish you as my wife forever." "That's lovely! Much nicer than the words they make you say in church." The warmth of her breath caressed his face. "I promise, by all the stars in the heavens and by all the love in my heart, I will honor and cherish you as my husband forever." She was his at long last! A great warm, foamy wave of relief threatened to knock Irvine off his feet. "You have made me the happiest person in the world!" "The happiest man, perhaps," Selphie corrected him with an impish chuckle. "Aye." Irvine swept her into his arms again. "The very happiest man!" He kissed her again with all the unappeased hunger that had once gnawed at his heart. The assurance that she returned his feelings made him bolder. His hands ranged over her, acquainting him with every delectable curve of her body through the fine muslin of her gown. The ragged gust of her breath, the way she draped herself against him, her sighs of pleasure, convinced him of her matching desire. She trembled in his arms. "Are you cold, my love?" He gathered her closer to him…if that were possible. "Can I fetch you a wrap? Or do you wish to go inside?" Selphie shook her head. "I am not cold. I am on fire. The only wrap I want is your arms. I do want to go inside, though." Irvine struggled to contain his disappointment. "To my bed," whispered Selphie. "But only if you promise to join me." "Join you?" Irvine nearly dropped her. "In bed?" "Why not?" Delicious, teasing laughter rippled through her. "We just wed, didn't we?" Irvine's mouth went dry. His body, already roused to an extremity he could barely stand, responded to her invitation. "Yes, but —" "I want my wedding night, husband." She tugged him toward the house. "And I cannot wait." All his life, Lord Kinneas had been a careful, guarded, responsible fellow. Scores of prudent reasons to resist her tempting invitation clamored in his mind. But they were no match for the love that swelled in his heart, or the ache of desire that racked his body. "Neither can I!" 


	20. Chapter 7 page 1

Chapter Seven: Page One  
  
Would she be doing this if she had a little less champagne inside her? The notion flitted through Selphie Tilmitt's mind while she and her "bridegroom" stole into the darkened house. Meanwhile, the masked ball to celebrate Lord Leonhart's engagement continued out on the south lawn. A few moments earlier the lovers had made private vows of marriage in the rose garden, under the stars. While all very romantic, those vows would not protect Selphie from scandal if her new husband declined to repeat them later in front of human witnesses. The moment she latched her bedroom door behind them and he folded her in his embrace, all her doubts fled. He was not the one who'd suggested this tryst. It was she who had been unwilling to wait. Having found true love at last, she was eager to explore all the delicious sensations he provoked in her while they were still so fresh and tender. Her heart and her honor were safe in his keeping. Champagne or no champagne, Selphie had never been more certain of anything in her life. Music wafted in through her half-opened window on the mild night air. A faint shimmer of star and lantern light bathed the darkened room, enough for Selphie to discern vague shapes and shadows. Her bridegroom nuzzled her neck. "If you change your mind at any time, please tell me and I will stop." He inhaled deeply, as if her scent was the only air that would sustain him. "I swear I will…if it kills me." Selphie subsided against him with a wanton chuckle. "Do not expect me to excuse you so easily from your duties as a husband." With that, she untied her mask and tossed it to the floor. Then she took his hand and led him toward the bed. On the way, she heard the quiver of arrows fall from his Robin Hood costume. He must have removed his mask, too. For when he eased Selphie onto the cool sheets and began to kiss her again, his upper face was as delightfully naked as the rest of him would soon be. For a while they reveled in kissing and touching through their clothes, murmuring endearments, not worrying that their knees might buckle when passion swept over them. And sweep it did, with a fluid force as powerful and inevitable as billows on the ocean. 


	21. Chapter 7 page 2

Chapter Seven: Page Two  
  
Her lover kicked off his boots, and Selphie, her slippers. With impatient, fumbling fingers, she tugged at the laces that held his vest closed. Gradually his kisses grew more fevered, stoking the blaze of her desire. His lips strayed lower, pushing aside the light fabric of her Greek chiton bodice with his chin until he had bared her breast for his delectation…and hers. Selphie swallowed a little gasp when his lips closed over the crest of her bosom, followed by the first hot swipe of his tongue. She arched herself toward him, her gasp muting into a purr of pleasure. She could feel his lips curve into a smile as he continued to favor her with the delightful worship of his body. Slipping his hand beneath the hem of her gown, he began to trace the contour of her leg. With every inch his velvet touch ascended, her delight and her need grew, until she wondered how her senses could contain them. When he halted, then began to retreat, only a forceful application of his lips upon hers kept Selphie from crying out her sharp, sweet yearning. "I must get out of these clothes!" His hoarse whisper rasped in Selphie's ear, echoing her own thoughts precisely. After a brief, frantic struggle to remove their costumes, they subsided back onto the sheets with soft sounds of fulfillment, relishing the contact between their naked bodies, which fairly glowed with mutual desire. Selphie pushed her lover onto his back, pinning him beneath her, eager to explore and excite him, as he had done to her. "Enough!" He spoke in a soft, urgent growl at last. "If you keep this up, I will be no more good to you." "Indeed?" She chuckled. "Is that how it works? I fear I have much to learn about the doings of husbands and wives." "I have no vast experience myself," he admitted. "Shall we learn together?" Selphie wriggled against him, delighting in the feel of his firm-muscled chest against her dewy bosom. "I am prepared to devote countless hours to the pursuit of such vital knowledge." "And I shall be your willing partner in…study." Once again he began to kiss and fondle her with untutored prowess born of desire and love for her. As the music of a summer night engulfed them and swept them away, they came together at last in a surge of wild magic that would have been worth a lifetime of waiting and wanting. 


	22. Chapter 7 page 3

Chapter Seven: Page Three  
The music had long since died away and dawn's rosy light had begun to filter in the window when Irvine's eyes snapped open, roving restlessly while his body lay in breath-bated stillness. Dear heaven, what had he done? He'd thought last night had all been a delicious, champagne-sodden dream. Now he stared at Selphie, her features relaxed in the soft, trusting tranquility of sleep as she nestled beside him in her bed. Her bed! The spell of their summer night tryst shattered into a thousand perilous shards. How might Selphie look when she opened her lovely eyes and saw him in her bed rather than Viscount Dintch? Irvine's newly vulnerable heart quailed at the prospect. He had been reluctant to coerce Selphie into wedding him out of duty. Now he had done something far more despicable. He'd made his way into her bed under false pretenses, in the guise of another man. Having yielded to his seduction, she would now be forced to wed him to prevent a scandal. If she could ever forgive him the former, Irvine was certain she would hate him for the latter. Almost as much as he hated himself for abandoning his restraint and his scruples. Last night, somewhere between the rose garden and her bedroom, his befuddled conscience had urged him to doff his mask so Selphie would know it was he. Caught in the wayward grip of passion, he had ignored his own better judgment. Now, in the soft, cool light of daybreak, Irvine bitterly repented his impetuous actions. For a bittersweet moment, he let his gaze brood over Selphie's naked body, her lithe limbs wrapped in the lazy contentment of sated desire. He wanted her now as much as he had last night. More, perhaps, for having experienced the rapture of their lovemaking. He could not bear to tarnish the memory of their enchanted night with the aversion he might see in her eyes if he stayed, nor with the kind of bitter recriminations he deserved from her. Unable to face her until he had some time to marshal his old defenses, Irvine eased himself out of Selphie's bed, gathered up his clothes and stole away. 


	23. Chapter 8 page 1

Chapter Eight: Page One  
  
Selphie stirred in her sleep when the door of her bedroom closed with faint finality. She made an effort to snuggle deeper into her lover's warm embrace, only to find him gone. Gone! She pried her eyes open, trying to push aside the muddled fog of sleep and ignore the queasy feeling deep in her stomach. It had all happened as she remembered, hadn't it? The kiss, the vows, the midnight bliss of lovemaking — they weren't just some romantic dream conjured up by the atmosphere of Lord Leonhart's masked ball and the quantity of champagne she'd consumed? She might have been tempted to think so, but for the mild ache of her surrendered virginity and the memory of what potent delight she had found in her lover's arms. That had been beyond the powers of her imagination. When she glanced about the room, hoping for some tangible sign, Selphie spied her lover's black mask lying on the floor with her silver one. She climbed out of bed and picked it up, turning it over and over in her hands.  
  
Why had he stolen away so early, without so much as a kiss of parting? A little shiver went through her when she imagined them rediscovering the pleasures of the night all over again at sunrise. How much might it add to the experience, to be able to feast her eyes on the firm, masculine beauty of his naked body? To see the flicker of carnal admiration for her in his gaze, muting into the soft glow of devotion. She could picture it all. Another shiver followed the first, though far less pleasant. Had she made vows of eternal love with the right man? Had the lover she'd welcomed into her bed been the one she'd intended? In the enchantment of last night, she had been so certain. In the cool, rational light of morning, Selphie feared she might have made a disastrous mistake. Neither could she trust his feelings for her. If he cared as much as he'd made her believe, surely he would not have departed this morning with neither word nor kiss nor any assurance of his identity. 


	24. Chapter 8 page 2

Chapter Eight: Page Two  
  
What a harsh jest Fate might have played on her — teaching her the truth of her feelings only to place her in a situation where she might have to wed a man she could not love. She wanted to burrow under the bedclothes and weep her heart out. But she did not. She was a woman now, Selphie reminded herself. Not a flighty girl who would let starlight fancies blind her to the ripe golden promise of every day. A woman must be willing to strive for what she wanted in life, make firm choices, then live with the consequences and make all she could out of them. Which meant, she must undertake the most difficult task she had ever set herself. She must talk honestly and intimately with Irvine Kinneas and compel him to answer her in kind.   
Irvine's courage almost deserted him when he spied Selphie marching toward him through the orangery of Helmhurst. She had a determined look on her face and in her hand she clutched the black mask he'd worn the previous night. The mask behind which he had hidden to deceive and seduce her. The moment he'd feared for so long had come at last. In fact, it would be worse than he had feared, for not only would he lose any hope of Selphie's love, he would also lose her respect and her friendship. He had not treasured those two precious gifts highly enough. "Irvine?" Selphie's face looked pale and there were dusky shadows beneath her eyes. Irvine had never seen her so resolute nor so achingly beautiful. "Do you know anything about this?" She held out the mask. "I must have the truth now, mind. For the sake of a very long and dear acquaintance." A dear acquaintance against which he had so despicably transgressed. Irvine reached for her hand as he sank to his knees. "I would beg your forgiveness, but I fear that would be asking the impossible. I admit I wore that mask last night, and Zell's costume as well. I'd overheard the two of you talking in the garden the night before and planning to meet." He did not tell her that Lord Leonhart had provided him with the costume. The blame was his for putting it to the use he had. Before Selphie could berate him, he rushed on, desperate to make a clean breast of it. "I was a rank scoundrel to deceive you and compromise you as I did last night. My only feeble excuse is that I have loved you so long and, lately, with so little hope." 


	25. Chapter 8 page 3

Chapter Eight: Page Three  
  
"Honor will compel us to wed." Irvine kept his eyes cast down, shrinking from the contempt he was sure to see in Selphie's eyes. He knew what he must do to make amends, though it would condemn him to a lifetime of fresh heartbreak. "I swear I will make no demands on you once we are married and I will allow you every freedom you would enjoy as a single woman." If that meant the humiliation of watching her flaunt her love affairs under his nose or even letting the children of her lovers bear his name, it was no more than he deserved. "Irvine Kinneas!" Selphie cried. She pulled at his hand. Thinking she wished to be released from his touch, Irvine let her go. To his amazement, Selphie grasped his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Do you truly believe I would have taken you into my bed last night if I had not known all along it was you?" "Known?" Irvine shook his head. This could not be a summer night's dream, for it was morning. A morning suddenly sparkling with golden hope and promise. "Of course, known!" Selphie hurled herself into his arms. "How could you think I would accept such a sudden proposal unless I had known my suitor for a very long time, and grown to love him without ever realizing it?" "You did? You do?" His heart was too full to say more just then, so he let his lips speak for him…without words. When at last they drew apart, Selphie looked deep into his eyes, and Irvine saw the love he had long despaired of finding. "I will forgive your error in thinking I could give myself to a man I'd just met." She dealt his nose a teasing bat with her forefinger. "If you can forgive my youthful folly in believing I could never fall in love with a man I've known all my life. A man I mean to know a good deal better in the years to come," she added, offering him her lips in earnest of her heart. "A man I mean to love forever." "Know better," Irvine agreed, savoring a world turned topsy-turvy in the most delightful way. "Love forever." Deep, long and sweet they kissed, then, discovering a magic that needed no champagne, no rose gardens and no starlight to weave its potent spell around their hearts.  
The End 


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